Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other

   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other #1  

AustinTX

Bronze Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
59
I have a couple of acres here and it has been mostly overgrown over the past 30 years before I bought it. It was dense with Live Oaks, Lagustrum, Cedars, Chinaberry and Cedar Elms.

I rented a bobcat 185 and ahve removed all the cedar, most of the lagustrum and many of the chinaberry trees.

In another week or so I will ahve most of the stumps and debris removed.

I will eventually plant grasss or ground cover over most of the property. For now I need to do stage two cleanup- remove chunks of caliche (rock) and chunks of wood remaining from the clearing.

So for the first nine months, any mower I get will mainly be used to haul the rocks and debris out from the back of the property.

It it my understanding that a manual tranny will handle towing much better than a hydro. The LA105 has a manual with a 19.5 BS. The LA165 has a 24 HP BS with a hydro (same one as the lower end 300 series JDs).

With the current sale and a 10% coupon I think I can get the LA105 for about $1215 and the 165 for around $1800. What would be my best choice considering all the cart/towing use I will have year one?

I've been reading this forum for months trying to decide whether to get a compact tractor or lawn tractor for my needs. It is my belief that I should continue to rent the bobcat to do all the heavy work, and buy a lawn tractor for the remaining work, since I have negotiated a price of $750 a month for the bobcat.

I would appreciate any thoughts or advice, esp. regarding a std tranny v a hydro for intense carting. You have already been a huge help and resource for me.
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other #2  
Have you considered renting a tractor with a landscape rake for a weekend at the proper time in the seqence to windrow the rock? Seems you could then move it with the bobcat loader this way. I would be cautious about hauling rock with a lawnmower as this is asking for trouble, not only the transmission wear but getting stuck frequently. In addition to this if you rake it out first you will have chance of saving the mower deck, without it you are asking for trouble here too. This is a fast way to make a new mower an old one.



Steve
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other #3  
can i ask how you are getting the 10% off coupon? i am planning on buying one of these mowers ( prolly a la115) for some small work around the house.

if i was you and going to buy one, i would not even consider a gear drive, they are belt driven initially anyways just like the hydros, and from what i've seen the hydros seem to go forever. you will like it way better for mowing.
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other
  • Thread Starter
#4  
can i ask how you are getting the 10% off coupon? i am planning on buying one of these mowers ( prolly a la115) for some small work around the house.

if i was you and going to buy one, i would not even consider a gear drive, they are belt driven initially anyways just like the hydros, and from what i've seen the hydros seem to go forever. you will like it way better for mowing.

They are available at any post office (at least they were a few weeks ago). They have a "Moving Kit" that is a packet with a change of address form and stuff, along with a Lowe's 10% off coupon. I've used several so far with no problems. And the 12 mos 0% financing on a Lowe's card is icing on the cake (make sure to ask for it at checkout - its not automatic).

As far as the mower- I've heard that a hydro uses a lot of HP and that towing anything is very ahrd on them. Other than that, I would prefer them over a manual.
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Have you considered renting a tractor with a landscape rake for a weekend at the proper time in the seqence to windrow the rock? Seems you could then move it with the bobcat loader this way. I would be cautious about hauling rock with a lawnmower as this is asking for trouble, not only the transmission wear but getting stuck frequently. In addition to this if you rake it out first you will have chance of saving the mower deck, without it you are asking for trouble here too. This is a fast way to make a new mower an old one.



Steve

This is great advice- thanks. I might not have the bobcat past early next week- so I will look into this in the morning. It would probably be best to have both machines for a few days to work with. That would take care of most hard lawn tractor demands the following week.

I've never used an implement to windrow rock- can you give me an executive summary of the optimal setup, so I can find and rent the proper equipment?

I probably need something fairly narrow, if possible, as I have a lot of trees and roots that need to stay.

Also- the caliche is a relatively light rock. Its still rock- but it could be much worse.
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Have you considered renting a tractor with a landscape rake for a weekend at the proper time in the seqence to windrow the rock? Seems you could then move it with the bobcat loader this way. I would be cautious about hauling rock with a lawnmower as this is asking for trouble, not only the transmission wear but getting stuck frequently. In addition to this if you rake it out first you will have chance of saving the mower deck, without it you are asking for trouble here too. This is a fast way to make a new mower an old one.



Steve

Couple more quick things=

How will the landscape rake work with roots? Because of the caliche, a lot of the oaks have roots running very shallow and I would prefer to damage them as little as possible.

As far as using the mowers mostly to pull a cart -I think the prudent thing to do would be to remove the mowing deck until I was finished with the landscaping. No use getting it all banged up. Seems like this would be not asking to much of the unit as long as teh loads were reasonable (<500#?)
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I found a 1979 Kubota 7100 with 900 hours parked in a guy's garage today when I was there to buy something else. He said he would sell it to me for $2500.

The seat needs replacing and the hydraulics scare me a little- the implement slowly lowers on its own-

It comes with a blade and a finish mower.

I would prefer a landscape rake and FEL but its very clean and the engine seems strong. Maybe I could trade int he mower toward one of those- I'm thinking this would better fit my current needs for light to medium landscaping. Esp. if I can find an FEL or lanscape rake for it.

Thoughts?
 
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   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other #8  
I'd go with the LA165 even if it has the Kubota heel-toe hydrostatic pedal setup like my Deere L130 has. I don't like the pedal arrangement; but it beats shifting gears in tight spaces.

Since we don't have kids or pets, I jumpered the RIO (lawyer) switch to make my life easier.

Both machines are belt driven, and I suspect there is more HP loss due to the belts versus transmission type.
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other #9  
Got a new LA165 this summer and I have only got to use it once. My teenage sons actually want to mow now. I did not like the rattling sound of the single cylinder engine in the smaller LAs. The LA165 has larger tires for more ground clearance along with the better hydro/automatic drive and the features list of the extended life series engine looks impressive. It doesn't run out of power mowing tall thick grass and weeds.

Extended Life Series (ELS) is a line of full-featured engines
 
   / Lawn Tractor - LA105 v LA165 ....or other #10  
1*It it my understanding that a manual tranny will handle towing much better than a hydro. The LA105 has a manual with a 19.5 BS. The LA165 has a 24 HP BS with a hydro (same one as the lower end 300 series JDs).
2*I've been reading this forum for months trying to decide whether to get a compact tractor or lawn tractor for my needs.
3*I would appreciate any thoughts or advice regarding a std tranny vs a hydro
1*Not a correct understanding.
2*How about something in between a compact tractor and a lawn tractor for your needs?
Get a Hydro an don't look back.

if i was you and going to buy one,
1*i would not even consider a gear drive.
1*I would turn my phone in for a MA Bell Wall Phone with a hand crank on it so my phone would be in style with my gear drive tractor if i was to purchase. a gear drive tractor..

1*I've heard that a hydro uses a lot of HP and that towing anything is very ahrd on them.
1*Ever heard ya can't believe everything ya hear?

Couple more quick things=
As far as using the mowers mostly to pull a cart -
1*I think the prudent thing to do would be to remove the mowing deck until I was finished with the landscaping. No use getting it all banged up. Seems like this would be not asking to much of the unit as long as the loads were reasonable (<500#?)
1*Helps save on the deck but does nothing to spare the tractor.

I found a 1979 Kubota 7100 with 900 hours parked in a guy's garage today when I was there to buy something else. He said he would sell it to me for $2500.

The seat needs replacing and the hydraulics scare me a little- the implement slowly lowers on its own-

It comes with a blade and a finish mower.

I would prefer a landscape rake and FEL but its very clean and the engine seems strong. Maybe I could trade int he mower toward one of those- I'm thinking this would better fit my current needs for light to medium landscaping. Esp.
1* if I can find an FEL or lanscape rake for it.

Thoughts?
1*May be very hard to do.
 
 
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